Books like Troubling a Star

I know many might find this a terrible thing to admit, but I've always loved A Ring of Endless Light and Troubling a Star best of all Madeleine L'Engle's books--yes, even more than A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels and companions. I'm not sure whether I can even explain why, other than to say that I somehow just really identify with Vicky Austin, more than I ever could with Meg or Cal or Charles Wallace or the twins. This book is sort of part mystery, part travel adventure, part political intrigue, and part coming-of-age story. Vicky gets in over her head when her friend (and crush) Adam Eddington heads to Antarctica with a research team and she's given the opportunity to join a cruise and follow along behind him, to meet up with him when she arrives. Only not everyone on the ship with her is there for sightseeing, and somebody thinks she knows more than she does. The story starts off right in thick of things and then goes back to tell us how Vicky got into such a dire situation. Yeah, sometimes Vicky seems a little old-fashioned, but...I don't know, she still somehow feels real, and Troubling a Star is a total comfort book for me that I just read over and over and over again. Plus, you know, I kind of have that whole obsession with Antarctica thing going. Anyway, this is one of my all-time faves.